The Humble Noble Wanderer 11 The Wind Pillar

Solomon descended the carriage. He unfastened the horse and brought them to the road. The clouds turned darker, away from the white they once were. Leo realized something wasn't right.

He said, "Why are you releasing the horses? Don't tell me... We're leaving your carriage!? What about your goods and wares!? Won't you sell them!?"

"Not as important as my life kid," replied Solomon, "Haven't you learned anything from my story of the river and the trail and... Never mind! Just hop on and ride with me!"

So, Solomon mounted the horse and motioned for Leo to ride behind him by patting the s.p.a.ce behind him. Solomon had placed a folded blanket onto the back of the horse to mitigate the pain Leo would feel from riding with him. Leo rubbed his hair with both hands, unsure of what Solomon's intentions were, but overall, he decided to trust the old man. He hopped on the horse behind Solomon, and Solomon started to ride.

Solomon spurred the horse into a full gallop. Le found himself holding onto the saddle of the horse with a firm grip. He felt the wind pick up. He saw the sky turn a dark grey. The grey blotted out the white parts of the sky, while the clouds pushed towards a spinning circle in the sky behind them. Solomon and Leo were a good 1/2 mile away from the epicenter of the sky's swirling, when suddenly, a circle of blue opened in the sky....

A magic circle appeared inside the blue s.p.a.ce of the sky that radiated energy toward the surrounding clouds. Purple energy traveled through the clouds, trickling into the surroundings, when suddenly, purple bolts of lightning struck the ground.

A chaotic symphony of loud sound struck the ears of both Solomon and Leo. They saw lightning strike the prairie. Fire started when the bolts struck the dry golden gra.s.s. Solomon narrowed his eyes. He urged the horse to go faster, and the horse did, but only by a little.

Leo opened his mouth wide in amazement. He had never seen chaos like this before. The lighting struck and struck and struck behind them... They seemed to have outrun the storm.

"Is it over?" said Leo.

"Not quite," Solomon said, "Thankfully, this phenomenon is stationary... But right now, we still need to get as far away from the wind pillar as possible."

"Wind pillar..." Leo said.

Sure enough, the wind the started to increase in speed. The wind flew towards the epicenter of the storm. It flew and flew and flew, until finally, a pillar of wind descended.

It looked like a tornado, but not quite. The entirety of the cyclone maintained the shape of a pillar. The sides of the round pillar swirled up, up towards the giant magic circle in the sky. Leo was stunned. He felt the wind pillar drain his magic energy. It decreased his reserve to half, and just a moment ago, he was at full capacity. Leo shuddered at the thought of being swallowed whole by such a calamity.

Solomon and Leo continued to ride. The storm raged and raged and raged. Solomon breathed a sigh of relief when they left the radius of influence, and Leo didn't feel the burden the pillar placed on his body anymore.

Solomon stopped, got off the horse, and he stared at his carriage that the the wind pillar sent flying in their direction. The carriage landed fifty feet in front of them and slid to a stop after every piece of the carriage flew in different directions, but mostly at Solomon and Leo. Leo grabbed a hold of his word, but Solomon was faster. Solomon drew a magic circle in one second. An earth barrier rose from the ground blocking all the incoming pieces of his carriage.

Solomon lowered the barrier.

"Old man, you didn't tell me you were a wizard," said Leo.

"You didn't need to know," said Solomon, "Not yet anyway..."

The two stood in silence, until Solomon jumped on the horse and motioned for Leo to ride behind him again. Leo sighed. He got on the horse and rode together with the old man.

Meanwhile, the storm raged on behind them.